Love and War
by Chaotic Harlequin
Summary: Alexandra, a blind temple mage has to lead what's left of Fereldens Grey Wardens to stop the blight. A daunting task made more difficult by the beautiful witch of the wilds...
1. Chapter 1

The woods were still. Quiet. Where there should the endless chirping of songbirds or the rustling of leaves. The korcari wilds or this part of it was dead. The blight had killed it. The silence of the forest bothered Alexandra. Though it wasn't completely silent. Daveth, for all his skill in moving silently might as well have been jumping up and down in plate armor and blowing a loud horn. Jory wouldn't stop babbling and his and Alistair's armors both made a god-awful racket.

Alexandra sighed and moved forward, her staff tapping the ground ahead of her. She idly wondered why the blind woman was leading the way, but no one had said anything about it. Not even Alistair; who technically was supposed to be leading this little mission into the kocari wilds. Why they had to get vials of darkspawn blood was beyond her, but acquiring the treaties, that was completely necessary, and important.

Her companions kept pace with her, their eyes out as they looked for the darkspawn. Alexandra didn't know what to make of her companions. Jory at first had seemed like a brave and resourceful soldier, but that image was quickly destroyed when he panicked and wanted to leave the wilds after they came across a scouting party that had been ambushed and destroyed by the darkspawn. Blubbering about how he wasn't a coward, he repeatedly suggested that they give up this foolish mission and head back. It took all three of them to calm him down and get him to move forward.

Daveth on the other hand was brave, and clearly knew what he was doing and if he was scared about going up against the darkspawn, he hid it very well. Alexandra had come across him hitting on one of the female soldiers, (unsuccessfully) to her surprise; Daveth brushed off his failure completely and wasn't in the least bit bothered by it. To Alexandra he reminded her of Alistair; just not as naïve and more then willing to talk about sex.

"Darkspawn!" Alistair's shout cut through Alexandra's thoughts. The Grey Wardens ability to sense the darkspawn outstripped Alexandra's hearing; she hadn't even heard them yet. Just a couple hours inside the wilds and the team had the combat formations down to an exact science. Alistair and Jory would run forward, directly engaging the darkspawn; Daveth on the other hand would run around the outskirts of the fight, striking the darkspawn flanks as rapidly as possible. In the back Alexandra would stand casting spells and doing as much damage as possible.

The growls and snarls of the darkspawn filled the air. Followed quickly by splashing as the creatures ran through the water. An idea quickly formed and Alexandra quickly began barking orders.

"Jory! Alistair! Keep the darkspawn in the water! Daveth draw an arrow!"

They leapt to follow her orders, and as the sounds of combat at the waters edge filled the air, Daveth drew an arrow and stood next to Alexandra. Holding her hands up to the arrow, blue light flowed into the arrow for a few seconds before she nodded.

"You two, push them deeper into the water! When I tell you, get away as fast as possible!"

Neither Jory nor Alistair gave any sign that they heard, so Alexandra could only hope that they heard. "Daveth fire the arrow into the water when I give the signal."

"As you command my lady" Daveth coolly replied. Alexandra snorted and then bellowed

"Get back now! Daveth, Fire!"

Alistair and Jory slammed their respective weapons into the darkspawn, shoving some back and causing the others behind them to tumble into the water. The arrow struck the water and immediately electricity arced through the water, electrocuting everything. The Darkspawn stood rigidly, locked in place as thousands of volts coursed through their systems. After a few seconds they crashed into the water, as dead as the Kocari wilds around them.

"Good plan there, and quick thinking." Alistair said as they rejoined them.

"Thanks" Alexandra said mildly

"Good plan? It almost got us killed!" Jory burst out.

"True, but it didn't kill you." Alexandra replied smoothly.

Somehow that failed to reassure Jory. And somehow, Alexandra didn't care.

They moved on through the wilds carefully. Darkspawn ambushes were becoming more frequent, as if they didn't want them to go any farther. When Alexandra questioned about it, Alistair replied that they only saw targets to kill. The darkspawn didn't have any other reason to attack them. And they would keep coming until they were all dead or the darkspawn themselves were dead. Jory blubbered and whined about that. Everyone ignored him.

Alexandra once again took the lead, only stopping to battle the occasional group of darkspawn or to gather the flowers that the kennel master had requested. It took awhile, but they reached the fallen fort where the treaties lay. Based on the exclamations that others were making, the fort truly was broken; never to raised or used again.

It didn't matter to Alexandra; all she cared about were the treaties. And she really wanted to leave the blighted wilds, the incessant smell of corruption and death was doing a number on her.

"The treaties aren't in here" Daveth called out, worry clearly woven through his words.

Alexandra blinked in surprise, but before she could say anything, a leaf crinkled beneath a boot. Alexandra turned around and looked up at the figure coming down the stairs.

"Well well what have we here?"


	2. Chapter 2

Morrigan had watched with curiosity the small band of soldiers move through the korcari wilds. As a raven, she watched the group move, none of them the wiser to the fact that they were being watched. Her eyes roamed over the group, trying to sues out as many facts about them as she could. The biggest one was at heart a bloody coward. The thin one with the bow was a lecherous twit and not worth paying attention to. The blond one was clearly an idiot.

And then the leader of this group caught her eye. Standing slightly taller then Morrigan would as a human, she had a bronze-grey skin color with hair that was bright silver to the point of it almost being white. Her hair was long enough to reach her waist and was tied as a single ponytail. She had a striking face, with full lips and had long knife like ears. She was clearly a elf half breed. Her staff tapped the ground in front of her repeatedly; to the confusion of Morrigan. Then it dawned on her; _She's blind!_ Slightly berating her self for not noticing it earlier, she took off from the branch she flew ahead to the ruins, having long since overheard their conversations and finding out about their goals.

Landing ahead of them she shifted back into her body, and watched as they entered the ruins. At most two minutes later, the males of the group expressed shock and mild fury at the fact that the treaties were gone. Morrigan smiled to herself, amused at their reactions. Save for the half-breed woman, who stayed stock still staring out into space. Morrigan moved forward in order to get a better look at this mysterious woman, when her foot came down on a small stick, cracking it into two. The sound didn't bother or concern her at all, that was until the woman turned her head to look at where Morrigan was concealing herself.

_Impossible. She couldn't have heard that. _ Yet she clearly had heard the stick snapping under her boot. The woman's unseeing eyes started at Morrigan with an unflinching intensity. It startled Morrigan, but she knew that she had been found. She steadied her self and announced her presence.

"Well Well what have we here? Vultures picking amongst a long dead corpse?"

At her words the men of the group flanked forward, in fighting stances, until the silver haired beauty held up a hand, halting them. Blondie and thin one accepted her silent command without a complaint, though the biggest lunkhead looked annoyed at being ordered around by her.

Silver-hair stepped forward towards Morrigan.

"Common courtesy dictates that you introduce yourself" She spoke smoothly.

"You speak the truth, I am called Morrigan."

"I am Alexandra. Daveth here seems to think you are a witch of the wilds, is there any truth to that?"

Morrigan gave a small chuckle, "There is some truth to that, but there are also some falsehoods as well"

(#)

Daveth, the thin and lanky one translated that as she was a witch of the wilds, and went into full-blown panic. Alexandra fought to keep her patience in check. It wouldn't do to start causing a fight when one wasn't needed. She took a deep breath, inhaling the scents around her. The smell of death and rot was ever present, but the smell of this Witch…was something else entirely. It was the smell of the wilderness, untainted by the blight. It stood out completely, especially amongst the blight infested wilds.

It was an immensely attractive smell, and Alexandra fought to keep her hands at her sides; for the urge to run her hands over this woman and find at least a loose definition of what she looked like. All she knew was what she heard, and she could guess that this Morrigan was of a light build and almost her height. Alexandra snorted.

"Do you know where the treaties are?" Alexandra asked, trying to steer her thoughts away from her hormones to the task at hand.

"Yes I know where they are, my mother took them" Morrigan spoke confidently.

_By the maker her voice, I wonder what she sounds like in bed_ Alexandra fought even harder to steer her train of thoughts to the mission at hand.

"So you did take them! You sneaky witch-thief you!" Alistair shouted. Alexandra sighed.

"My mother was protecting them"

"She was-oh." Alistair was stunned into silence. A novelty.

"Morrigan, would you take us to your mother?" Alexandra asked, before any of the men could say anything.

"That is a reasonable quest, I think I like you Alexandra" Morrigan said.

_And I think I like you o witch of the wilds_

Meeting Morrigan's mother who turned out to none other then the legendary Flemeth. Turned out she had protecting the treaties, because the original magical protection had long since failed. She goaded Morrigan to guiding them out of the forest, (for which Alexandra was grateful, because she obviously had absolutely no clue as to where they were, and she knew for a fact that none of the other tin-potted soldiers knew where they were either)

Morrigan bid them farewell just short of the camp; and for some reason, Alexandra couldn't escape the feeling that they would be meeting the witch of the wilds again. The massive wooden gates of army fort slammed shut, and Alexandra began her walk towards Duncan so she can begin the final process of becoming a grey warden.


	3. Chapter 3

Alexandra woke up, gasping for breath. Her hand went to her throat and she started to rub it, wondering if everything had truly just happened. She remembered everything that happened, Duncan spoke some long spiel, and then handed a cup to Daveth, who drank it, and almost immediately began to scream in agony.

_Daveth!_

Alexandra ran her hands over the ground until the came upon a body. She felt no movement from it, no sign of life at all. Her hands moved up the body until she found the face. It was certainly Daveth, his face twisted in permanent agony. The stench of blood filled the air, and Alexandra only just noticed it. Jory, the coward had tried to back out of the joining. Alexandra remembered hearing him blubber and whine about there being no honor in the joining, and him drawing a sword in an attempt to defend himself.

Duncan had killed him. Two strikes of metal clashing against metal, and then the sound of metal sinking into flesh and the gasping of a quickly dying man. Duncan then began to move towards Alexandra, and had offered her the cup filled with darkspawn and other strange and foreign liquids. She had drunk from the cup, and almost immediately had blacked out from the pain.

The sound of plate metal filled her ears and she turned her head to her left, and Alexandra forced herself to stand up.

"In my joining, only one of us had died" Alistair spoke softly.

Taking Alexandra's hand, he put a necklace into it. "We keep some blood as a memento to the ones that didn't make it"

Alexandra closed her hand over the necklace and nodded. She didn't care to remember Jory, but Daveth had amused her. She wished he had survived.

Duncan spoke up "The King has requested our presence at the strategy meeting"

Alexandra nodded. "Well then, what are we waiting for?" And with that she took off walking, until Duncan called out and said, "You're going the wrong way"

Alexandra did a neat about-face, and walked right back to where Alistair and Duncan stood, and she gestured with her staff "Lead on then..or something" she mumbled.

Alistair fought to keep from laughing, and even Duncan had a slight smile on his face. Duncan walked away, leading the two junior members of the grey wardens.

The meeting hadn't gone as well as she had expected. The plan was frighteningly simple. A simple flanking attack on the darkspawn army. The King would be on the frontlines and Alexandra approved of that. Even though he was doing it for the glory, he was at the front leading his men. To hers and Alistair's annoyance, they had been sidelined to light the beacon at the top of the Tower Ishal.

_Fine, they want us to waste time lighting some make-damned beacon, we'll do it. _Alexandra thought in annoyance. Maybe something would happen. She doubted it though.

Night had quickly fallen, and with it, the battle. While Alexandra and Alistair raced across the bridge to the Tower of Ishal, underneath them, hundreds of meters down, the battle between the Fereldan army and the Darkspawn horde raged. Even this high up, the sounds of steel clashing against steel and the roars of fighters from both sides raged. A flaming rock slammed into one of the stone constructs and destroyed.

"Let's go Alistair!" she shouted. Not bothering to see if he heard, she began sprinting along the bridge. It was fortunate that she and Alistair moved so quickly, for artillery pieces from the darkspawn were slamming into the bridge. One of the ballistae pieces were blasted to pieces, along with its unfortunate crew. When they reached the end of the bridge, several soldiers came sprinting towards them.

"Darkspawn in the tower!" of the soldiers shouted, fear making his voice quiver.

"How is that possible?" demanded Alistair. The soldier in question had no answer for him.

"it doesn't matter! All of you follow us! We will retake the tower, if we don't Loghains army wont know when to attack." Alexandra barked.

The others were silent for a second but then they nodded.  
"We're with you serah!" one of the soldiers shouted.

Alexandra nodded. The group quickly charged up the hill towards the tower of Ishal. Almost immediately they were attacked by the darkspawn. Melee fighters slammed into each other as the courtyard and the steps into the tower exploded into an orgy of violence. Standing in the back with the other mages, Alexandra threw magical attack after magical attack.

While Alistair battled with a Genlock, Alexandra electrocuted one that had attempted to attack his flank. All around her, the clash of metal rang though the air as soldiers on both side fought. Some fell screaming, others didn't make a sound, they just simply died. The racket was unbelievable.

After what seemed like forever, the last darkspawn had finally fallen. Some quick healing for the wounded, and a few silent prayers for those that had died. It was all they had time for.

They pushed on. The groups number had increased with addition of a few foot soldiers and a couple mages that had survived the darkspawn massacre. They carved their way through the first floor and were halfway through the second floor when they finally ran into stiffening resistance. The sheer number of darkspawn was finally slowing them down.

_How in the void did they all get in here? _ Alexandra had no answer for her own thoughts. She didn't need her eyes to know what they had done to the defenders. The smell of thoroughly mutilated meat was thick in the air. Combined with that was the natural disgusting smell of the darkspawn. It served to create an all together disgusting smell and feeling in the tower. Alexandra felt her skin crawl every time she took a breath.

After a short break, they pushed on. Reaching the third floor, they cut every darkspawn they came across down. Alexandra managed to literally trip over the release lever for the caged mabari; who launched out of their cages like cannonballs and tore into the darkspawn. Cut by blades, blasted by magic, or torn apart by the fangs of the mabari the darkspawn _died_.

Panting, the group stop to collect their breath; and they heard the shrieks of more darkspawn coming up the tower. Alexandra immediately snapped off a few orders, and the majority of the soldiers took off towards the door to the second floor.

"hold the darkspawn away long enough for us to light the beacon! Alistair, lets go"

Alistair and two other soldiers, one an archer and the other a swordsmen, moved towards the door to the top of the tower.

"All right, everyone ready?" Alexandra asked.

Alistair and the rest gave their okays, and Alexandra pushed the door to the beacon room open.

**I apologize for not updating this as often as I should. Rest assured the updates will come out as often as possible. Thanks for being patient**

**-C.H.**


	4. Chapter 4

Alexandra didn't know what to expect upon entering the Beacon room. She certainly wasn't expecting a massive foul smelling ogre. Alexandra inhaled, and immediately regretted it. The stench of corpses and blood filled the air, and underneath it all was definitely the smell of fear.

The ogre stood up and stared at the intruders for a second; and then it roared. The sound reverberated through out the room before it stood and charged towards the party. There wasn't a chance to send out any orders. Alex solidified a bit of air, literally dropping the sky right onto the head of the ogre. Which didn't do much save daze the ogre enough that it ran head first into the wall. Dazing its self even more, the ogre stood there stunned for a few seconds. Giving the archer ample time to plant several arrows into its back. Alistair and the nameless soldier charged and started slicing at the ogre's ankles.

Shaking off its confusion, the ogre turned and swatted the soldier away. A sickening crunch announced the poor soldiers impact with the wall. Alistair dived and rolled out of the way of the ogre's massive fists. The ogre roared and charged after Alistair. Using its massive stomping feet and bellows as a guide, Alex launched a lighting bolt at the back of its head. The ogre stopped mid charge and turned around to Alex. Her smirk of victory vanished when she realized the ogre was now coming for her.

Words of power soared past her lips, and spell after spell slammed into the ogre, accomplishing nothing more then infuriating the simple creature. The ogre reached for Alex, and to late did she try to get away. Grabbing Alex and lifting her up to its face; the ogre roared. The foul stench of rotting meat combined with the creature's all ready disgusting breath nearly caused her to vomit. Choking down her bile, Alex thrust her staff forward, just as a trio of blades popped out from the point of the staff. The now bladed weapon sunk into the ogre's eye. The ogre roared in agony and twisted away, nearly ranking the staff out of Alex's hands. Alex launched the first spell that came to her mind, a simple shock spell that was used to play pranks on her fellow mages back at the tower.

The spell traveled down the staff and directly into what was left of the ogre's eye. Roaring in even greater agony, the ogre dropped Alex and clapped its hands to its face. Before it could get through the agony of losing an eye, Alistair ran up behind the ogre and sunk his sword into its leg. The archer loosed a couple arrows right into the creature's face. Seizing her chance, Alex ran forward and launched herself at the ogre. Slamming the staff into the ogre's throat, the ogre made a final attempt at grabbing Alex, but it died before it could do anything. The massive corpse slammed into the ground, and Alex stood up, her staff still impaled in the creature's throat.

Alistair and the archer stood in awe at the site of Alex standing on top of ogre. They were snapped out of their awe but Alex's not to gentle reminder to light the beacon. The sound of crackling fire quickly filled the room, as the fire billowed and roared.

"Alistair, Loghain will see this right?" Alexandra asked quietly.

"Definitely, there isn't a chance his army wont see this"

Alex nodded, grateful for Alistair's words. Sounds of clashing metal and the screams of the wounded and dying echoed from down the stairs. Alex's head snapped up like a hunting dog. She turned towards the door, and she heard Alistair start to speak, but whatever he was going to ask was quickly lost when the door flew off its hinges and dozens of darkspawn tore into the room. A force ball slammed into a Hurlock alpha, blasting a dinner plate size hole into his chest and launching him into the wall. That was all Alex got to do. Two arrows slammed into her, one in her shoulder and the other into her chest. Alex fell to the ground as Alistair and the archer fought against the darkspawn. Shouts of fear escaped from the two men as they were quickly over run. Alex raised her hand to do something, but unconsciousness took her.

(#)

Morrigan looked at the unconscious woman lying on her bed. Her eyes took in her figure. A shapely body, thin but sporting muscles as thick as iron. Her chest rose and fell, as this woman, Alexandra as she had called herself, fought to regain consciousness. Alex's bronze-grey skin was a curios thing for Morrigan. She had never seen anyone with skin of that color, not even the chasind sported such skin tones. She idly wondered who or what gave birth to this grey warden. Alexandra gave a loud gasp and shot straight up, her hands coming up to cover her chest from further projectiles. It took a couple seconds for her to realize there wouldn't be anything coming at her, and when she did; she lowered her arms and ever so slowly ran her hands over her shoulder and her chest. Clearly looking for the wounds that should be there. They wouldn't be there, if there was one thing that Flemeth knew, it was magic.

"Ah, she awakes" Morrigan said, drawing the now awakens mage's attention.

"Yes she awakes, and correct me if I'm wrong, but you are Morrigan of the wilds correct?"

"So you remember my name, I am pleased. And impressed."

Alexandra chuckled. "Your voice is memorable. What happened? How am I alive?" Realization dawned on her, and her voice changed its tone as she clearly fought to keep from panicking "The battle? What happened? Who survived?"

"Calm yourself, the blond idiot is right outside moping. Flemeth if you wish to believe me or not, plucked you from the top of the tower before you two were killed. That archer you had with you did not survive; he had an arrow in his throat and an axe in his skull. As for the battle…it seemed that the man who was supposed to attack the darkspawn quit the field."

Alexandra stared at Morrigan, her blank and unseeing eyes some how making the confusion and horror on her face seem worse then anything.

"Loghain quit the field? He..Abandoned the king? Duncan?"

"Both are dead I'm afraid" Morrigan said, with some sympathy. More then what that blond buffoon got.

Alexandra stood up, discarding the blanket. "We've got work to do then. Apparently I'm naked. Where are my clothes Morrigan?"

Morrigan directed Alexandra to the chest at the foot of the bed, impressed by the grey warden. Instead of falling on a sword in grief, she has decided to fix this problematic blight. As she left Alexandra to get dressed, she couldn't help but think that this woman was by far the most interesting person she had met.


	5. Chapter 5

The trio had exited the korcari wilds and headed to Lothering. Along the way, they had rescued a mabari hound that had bounded with Alexanda. She immediately took to calling it White Fang, or just Fang.

"Now we have a dog in the party, and Alistair is still the dumbest one of us" Morrigan said.

"Hey!"

"Morrigan be nice" Alex said, trying and failing to smother a snicker.

Alistair huffed and fumed, but didn't say anything. Morrigan wanted to favor Alex a smile, but obviously it would have been wasted.

Alex walked ahead of them, listening to Alistair and Morrigan bickering. As amusing as it was for the first leg of the journey, it was now becoming annoying.

"You know, if I didn't know better, I'd say you two were married," Alex said, smoothly interrupting Alistair's and Morrigan's latest argument.

Both were silent for a few seconds, before Alistair expressed disgust at being paired with Morrigan, and Morrigan displayed a combination of disgust and rage. After denying any and all attraction to each other, both fell silent. Alex smiled; she had gotten what she wanted. Alex walked on, enjoying the sounds of nature as they walked along the path.

Dealing with a few bandits that stupidly challenged them, Morrigan wanted to know what their plan of action was. Alex was silent, but then spoke up wanting to use the treaties to get help. Alistair pointed out that they needed to seize the Fereldan throne, or it would all be pointless. To do that, they needed the help of Arl Eamon.

Morrigan suggested just going and killing Loghain. This started another argument between her and Alistair. Alex barged in with another sarcastic comment, shutting them both up.

"Morrigan, politics run differently then the wilds. Sometimes you can't just chop off the head like that." Alex said diplomatically.

"Why?" Morrigan was confused about that, seeing as Flemeth had never mentioned it in her teachings.

As they walked in Lothering, Alex explained about succession, and the need to have a replacement in order to prevent a country from falling apart, and how a tyrant like Loghain would not have a successor at all, or if he did, it would just be someone just as tyrannical if not more so.

Morrigan listened with rapt attention. Alexandra could teach, her voice was certainly charming, and everything was explained in ways that gave the answer, or had Morrigan working it out herself. When Morrigan figured it out, Alex would give her a smile, a silent congratulation.

Morrigan was confused, for a circle mage; Alex certainly wasn't ignorant, and actually agreed with Morrigan on several things. They had their disagreements of course, but they were well reasoned and were causing Morrigan to rethink most of what she knew.

They spent the day wandering through Lothering, picking up a chantry girl, and a massive and stoic qunari named Sten. With these new members of the group, they had spread out and dealt with bandits, clearing the roads for the refugees, and dealing with the advanced parties of darkspawn. Gathering as much money as they could, they purchased supplies and armor and then started making their way to Redcliffe.

As they travelled, Morrigan learned even more about Alex. For starters, everyone learned the hard way that they shouldn't mention the circle in a positive light. Nor should they say apostate in her earshot or the Templers. Alex never explained, but she had a massive hatred for the circle and everything that had to do with it. It was to Morrigan's amusment and to Leliana's disappointment that Alex had a sever dislike of the chantry.

Making camp a few days from Redcliffe, Sten and Alexandra dueled. Every mighty sweep of Sten's massive great sword would miss Alex by a scant few inches. A wide sideswipe saw Alex jumping to what seemed an impossible height, before thrusting her staff forward and hitting Sten in the chest, right in the heart.

Alex landed gracefully, and smirked. She thrust her staff behind her, and tripped up Leliana, who had been trying to attack her from behind. As Leliana fell forward with a shout, Alex tapped her in the back of the head.

"That's two."

Alex jerked her staff back and hit Alistair in the face.

"And that's three. All three of you fail. Sten, you did a great job of holding my attention, but your swings left no room for anyone to help you. Leliana, you were too predictable. You should have gone after me while I was still in the air. Alistair, smart idea to ditch your armor, but leave the sneaking to people who know how to do it."

Everyone stared at Alex. They were surprised at how easily a _blind mage_ had thoroughly trounced them. They didn't know what to make of Alex. It seemed like she was first and foremost, a teacher. But no teacher like they had ever had before. Alex would state a problem, and have them work it out. She would leave things open for them to figure out their own answers, and then subtly correct them on things they may have gotten wrong.

Alex also heavily worked on coordinating their fighting, and after a few days, under her tutelage, the group had been fighting together as if they had known each other for months, not days.

After their little sparring match, everyone retreated to the fire pit, where Morrigan had been sitting. Morrigan lacked the skills required for close range combat, so Alex had been teaching her one on one. Morrigan was still confused on how she felt about that.

As they all sat around the fire, everyone save Morrigan and Alex talked about their pasts. Leliana was a bard from Orlais who was born in Ferelden. When asked why she had left Orlais, she demurred and changed the topic. Alistair was the bastard son of king Meric, Sten, when pressed grudgingly admitted to being sent on a mission to find out how dangerous the darkspawn were.

Morrigan responded with sarcasm and insults everyone time someone asked her, so people just stopped talking to her. Alex evaded every question about her with skill that put Sten's answers to shame. Alex smiled at the frustrated sounds her companions were making when she deflected each and everyone of their questions.

Eventually, the little dinner broke up, and everyone went their separate ways to their tents. Morrigan had camped several feet away from the group, and the only person that had dared to be near her was of course, Alexandra.

Alexandra sat in front of the fire that Morrigan had set.

"Apparently you seek to bother me some more?" Morrigan snapped.

Alex tilted her head. "Put some more conviction in your voice, I might actually believe that you're annoyed then"

Morrigan settled for glaring at Alex, which of course was wasted.

"How old are you warden?"

Alex chuckled. "You who doesn't like it when people pry, is now prying for information on me?"

"If you don"

"I'm older then twenty but younger then twenty six"

Morrigan didn't know what she was supposed to do with that information, or even why she bothered to ask at all.

"What color are you eyes?" Alex asked softly.

"They are…They are yellow"

"Hmm they must look nice. Yellow. An interesting color. I think."

"You might be right about that Alexandra."

Alexandra smiled and lifted up her hands. "May I?"

Morrigan was silent for several seconds. She opened her mouth to say something sarcastic, and instead a "yes" came out. Before she could change her mind, Alexandra had her hands on Morrigan's face, lightly trailing over her. After several seconds, Alexandra retracted her hands and smiled. "Your face feels nice, and you…feel beautiful. Well, good night Morrigan."

With that she turned and got up, making her way to her own tent, set up a short distance from Morrigan.

"Night" Morrigan said, far slower then she should have.

**Hope you all enjoyed, so R&R and tell me!**

**-C.H.**


	6. Chapter 6

Staves cracked as they smashed against each other. Morrigan spun and swung her staff towards Alexandra's face. She grinned when she realized that Alex wouldn't be able to bring her staff up in time.

Her grin was obliterated when the tip of Alex's staff pushed hers aside just enough so that it would miss her face. Faster then Morrigan could even begin to think, Alex swung her staff around and knocked her legs out from underneath her. Morrigan landed heavily in the grass. As soon as she regained her breath, Morrigan glared at Alex.

"Do you know what you did wrong?" Alex asked.

"I'm not fast enough" Morrigan snapped.

"That's part of it. The bigger part is you need to stop going for my face. It makes you predictable. Try new things, adapt. Think on your feet."

Alex extended her hand and Morrigan grudgingly accepted it. Alex held her hand for a few seconds longer and brushed her thumb over her fingers. No one but Morrigan noticed.

As Alex walked away, chastising Alistair for being dumb enough to stand still while fighting against Sten and his massive blade.

"How did you know?" He demanded.

Alex merely pointed at her ears and continued moving towards the fire pit, drawn by the constant crackling. Leliana was quick to join her, ditching the bow she had been using to practice.

Morrigan felt jealously twist and grow in her chest. It baffled her as to why she would be feeling something like that, especially in regards to another woman. Even if that woman was the mysterious and beautiful Alexandra.

Morrigan joined the others in sitting around the fire pit for dinner. Morrigan listened to them but refrained from commenting. Alex joined in every now and then, but she usually just stayed silent, staring off in space. Morrigan was seated to the right of Alex, and she noticed that Alex's hand was slowly ghosting over the ground, searching for something.

When she glanced down, she saw the saltshaker just a few inches ahead of Alex's hand. Taking a quick glance around, she saw that everyone else's attention was on Leliana, who was telling another one of her stupid stories. Morrigan grabbed the salt and pushed it back until it reached Alex's hand. Their fingers brushed each other as Alex grabbed the salt.

"Thank you" Alex whispered.

Morrigan didn't say anything, but when she looked at Alex, she saw that she wore an embarrassed expression. Dinner was ended a little bit after that, and everyone broke up and moved on, with Morrigan taking the first watch.

Alex materialized next to her, giving Morrigan a slight shock. Alex sat down next to Morrigan, and didn't say anything.

Morrigan spoke up "We're only a couple days away from Redcliff and this Arl Eamon. What do you expect to find Warden?"

Alex was silent, but Morrigan knew that she heard.

"I have a name witch."

"Witch? Tis not my name though it may be accurate"

"And my name isn't warden."

Both women were silent as they stared out to around the camp. But the silence wasn't uncomfortable; it was surprisingly nice, if a little strained.

"Alexandra, what do you think we will find in Redcliffe?"

Alexandra tilted her head and thought for a few seconds. "If Loghain has been planning this coup for some time, we will probably find this Eamon in some sort of trouble from Loghain's plans. If he hasn't, then there is a chance that we will find it in more or less one piece"

"So you don't know"

"I didn't say that exactly Morrigan." Alex tried and failed to suppress a yawn. "I'm off till my later shift. Night Morrigan"

Alex walked away, and Morrigan relatedly told herself that the reason she was a staring at Alex's ass was curiosity over the woman's past. Her ass just served as a focus point. A rather nice focus point.

The next day dawned bright and early, and they all walked towards Redcliffe. Leliana had started up a conversation on how Morrigan looked, and no matter how many times she tried; Leliana just would not shut up about shopping.

"How come no one ever compliments me on how I look?" Alistair moaned.

"I think you look great," Alex said without missing a beat.

"Tha…" Alistair's smile turned into a glare that he shot at the back of Alex's head, while Morrigan and Leliana snickered behind him. Even Sten's face twitched into something that could approximately be called a smile.

Alex hummed to herself while deliberately ignoring the now petulant Alistair. Morrigan chuckled, not only had Alex gotten her a laugh, she also got Leliana to shut up and stop pestering her.

Leliana switched to pestering Sten, who monosyllabic grunts did nothing to dismay her. Morrigan didn't know whether to admire that about Leliana, or despise her for being too stupid to take a hint. Morrigang shared a moment of bickering with Alistair, before walking along side Alex.

"Certainly a nice day isn't?" Alex asked. "It feels like a nice day, so I'm going to assume it is"

"Tis a nice day, I suppose, if you think about childish things like that." Morrigan allowed.

"I do. Because especially now, any day might be your last. Therefor, you have to enjoy the little things. Do you not o witch of the wilds?"

Morrigan didn't respond, but she did slow down a little, and allow herself to enjoy the sunlight on her face and the gentle breeze flowing across her skin. Unwittingly, she gave a gentle sigh at the feeling.

Alex didn't say anything, but she did give a small and gentle smile that seemed to light up her face.

At the sight of her smile, Morrigan felt butterflies float and soar all around her stomach; and she immediately dismissed it. It was just a side effect from Alistair's pathetic attempts at cooking.

Yes that was it.

**A short chapter for today. Enjoy.**

**-C.H.**


	7. Chapter 7

Hooves thundered against the ground as the party raced towards the circle. Alex hated being on horseback. Not even the fact that she was currently pressed up against Morrigan could change that fact.

The wind whistling past her face and the hooves constantly slamming against the ground filled her ears, and blocked out all other sounds. She couldn't find anything, being only able to rely on touch. She felt helpless, and she truly hated the feeling.

Alex didn't know how much time had passed, but eventually the group slowed down. Sten, astride his massive horse, lead the way. Alistair was close behind him. Morrigan and Leliana brought up the rear.

"The sun is beginning to set. What do you wish to do Warden?" Sten asked.

Alex twitched at being called Warden instead of her name, but she didn't comment on it. She had quickly figured it wasn't in Sten's nature to actually use a name. (For reasons that no doubt made sense to Sten alone)

"How far are we from the Circle?"

"Just a few more days to go" Alistair answered.

"Make camp then, we leave at first light." Alex ordered.

They immediately set to setting up the camp. While everyone posted tents and gathered wood for fire, Alex tied up and tended to the horses. The beasts were gifts from Alistair's uncle, Bann Teagan. Redcliffe had been a warzone. The undead streamed from the castle every night to attack the villagers. The group had set to help defend the village, and after a lengthy battle that consumed the night, they had succeeded in destroying most if not all of the attacking undead.

The next day, they had ventured into the castle, only to find Jowan, the fool who had gotten Alex cast from the circle and into the loving hands of the Grey Wardens. Fighting through the castle, (which took more work then it should have) they discovered that Connor was a mage, and had stupidly made a deal with demon to save his father; who had been poisoned.

Rather then sacrifice Isolde or anyone else, Alex volunteered to head back to the hated circle and get help. Teagan gave them horses in order to speed them on their way. Footsteps echoed behind her. Alex turned her unseeing eyes to Morrigan.

"You seem lost in thought." Morrigan said.

"Are you implying that you wish to discuss my feelings or find out what I am feeling right now?" Alex asked mischievously.

"If we must, tis an odd thing people constantly wanting to discuss their feelings. Why do you think they want to do so?"

Alex shrugged. "Probably because it lets them feel better." Morrigan snorted.

Alex sighed. "I was thinking about Jowan. I can't decide if I should hate him, or thank him. Because of him, I'm free of the slavery of the circle tower. Yet thanks to him I am stuck being a grey warden, and I have no choice in the matter." Alex snarled. "Seems no matter where I go, people are constantly making decisions for me."

"You have power, tell them to leave you alone."

"If only life was that simple. Let us eat. Which way to the fire pit?"

Morrigan placed Alex's hand on her shoulder and guided her to the fire pit. When they got close enough, Alex's hand fell off of Morrigans's shoulder, seeing as she now how the crackling fire to guide her now.

"Who cooked tonight?" Alex asked apprehensively.

"I did" Sten immediately said.

Alex breathed a sigh of relief, "Mayhap there be a god after all"

Everyone laughed, save Alistair who adopted a hurt look. As bowls of soup and potatoes were passed around, they talked about random subjects. Sten managed to aggravate every woman in the party by insisting that them fighting wasn't "done" and Morrigan erupted in rage over White Fang literally eating her food right out her bowl.

"Morrigan, where did you learn to ride a horse?" Leliana asked.

"Seduced some stupid soldier into showing me years ago" Morrigan answered frankly.

"Oh…You didn't…do anything to him right?" Leliana asked quietly.

"No I did not. He however, picked a fight with the Chasind and was butchered. Idiot."

Leliana decided to stop talking to Morrigan then. "Why don't you know how to ride Alexandra?"

"One generally needs eyes that work in order to learn how to ride a horse" Alex answered coolly.

Morrigan snickered as Leliana blushed and noisily returned to her soup. Alistair asked Leliana for a story, and she immediately launched into the tale of some knighted named Aveline.

Alex listened with half an ear, but she didn't really care. Her mind lay on what she would find back at the circle. She didn't care about the Templars, but the mages inside, not all of them had accepted that they must live as enslaved sheep, and even the ones that had, that didn't mean that they deserved to have something happen to them.

Alex hoped that she would find the circle as she remembered it, pretentious and annoying, but deep down she couldn't escape the feeling that something terrible had happened to it.

Alex called for first shift, and she seated herself on the stump and waited. Around her, the sounds of nature interrupted by the occasional noise from the horses were all that she heard.

White Fang rolled next to her, and Alex absent-mindedly scratched his belly. The feeling that something horrible had happened to the circle still stuck with her. A twig snapped beneath a boot behind her.

"Hi Leliana." Alex said without turning around.

"It's amazing how you do that!" Leliana gushed.

Alex chuckled but didn't say anything.

"I wanted to apologize for my earlier comment, about the horseback riding" Leliana muttered.

"Don't worry about it. You didn't mean anything by it."

"May we talk?"

"We're doing it now aren't we?" Alex said mirthfully.

Leliana chuckled and sat down next to White Fang, and began rubbing his belly, while chatting away with Alex. For the first time tonight, the bad feeling regarding the circle began to fade, for which Alex was grateful.

When the morning came, they would make for the last leg of the journey towards the chantry. Alex actually looked forward to it. Maybe this bard had something to her after all.

A short distance away, Morrigan watched Leliana and Alexandra talk away, and she seethed with jealously.

**Jealously. A dangerous and horrible emotion. Little wonder it's one of the seven sins. Better move quickly Morrigan! Next chapter, the fight for the circle! **

**-C.H.**


	8. Chapter 8

They reached lake Calenhad by nightfall. The horses were laboring and panting with exhaustion. They had pressed the beasts hard in order to reach the circle as fast as possible.

Morrigan's thighs were chafed and cramped. But that didn't matter to her; Simply because wrapped around her stomach were Alex's arms. Morrigan didn't know why Alex only travelled with her; but she secretly enjoyed having Alex right there with her. (That and the jealous look on Leliana's face had been totally worth it.)

Alex was pressed up very close to her, and the feel of her chest against Morrigan's back was driving her insane. Whether it was lust or something else, Morrigan couldn't say. Morrigan looked over at the magi tower.

"Fitting that they would create a jail and make it look like a giant phallus"

Alex peeked out from behind Morrigan's shoulders.

"You're kidding right? I didn't live in a giant dong for most of my life."

"Tis not a joke. Truly it looks like a giant….dong"

Alex moaned in annoyance and dropped her head against Morrigan's shoulder. Alistair and Leliana chuckled.

"Lets go." Alex said in resignation.

Tying up the horses at the inn, they paid/bullied several of the workers into making sure nothing happened to them. So far, everything was going their way. Until they reached the docks. An idiot Templar was blocking their way, and refused to allow them to pass, even if for Grey Warden business.

"I could let you pass, if you let those temptresses stay with me," the idiot said.

Everyone was stunned into silence at that. This was a mighty Templar? Morrigan almost couldn't believe it. Almost.

"Oh excellent. I was hoping for some new prey." Morrigan said with a sultry tone.

"Prey?" the idiot practically squeaked.

"I couldn't think of better prey" Alex said.

"Neither can I, he looks like a screamer"

"Hmmm it must be a lovely sound."

"How long do you think he will last? I hope tis longer then the last one" Morrigan jested.

"As do I. Well Templar? Are we going to go? Or are you going to carry us across?" Alex asked.

"We're going. Like right now. Right now!" The Templar was panicking beyond all belief and was almost pushing them into the boat.

"You two are horrible" Leliana said after they reached the circle.

Morrigan and Alexandra just laughed.

Pushing through the massive doors, they found a scene of chaos and misery. Templars rushed to barricade the doors on the other side of the room. An older man was clearly in charge. He was barking orders, trying to create some semblance of order. To Morrigan's surprise, he was actually succeeding.

"Who let you in?! Oh it's you. I suppose it's fitting that you would show up now." He barked.

"It's nice to see you too Greagoir." Alex snapped.

To Morrigan's surprise, this Greagoir face actually softened a little.

"I apologize Alexandra, but these are trying times." He actually sounded a little contrite.

"It certainly sounds like it. What's going on?"

"I don't know. Something happened and now abominations and blood mages are running rampant all over the tower. We tried to take it back but we failed. I have sent for more reinforcements so we can perform the Right of Annulment."

"YOU WHAT?!" Alex's voice thundered through the air, and even Sten flinched at the sudden noise and fury.

Morrigan was confused. What is this right of Annulment? She got her answer almost immediately.

"The tower may be over run, but that doesn't mean you can just run through and kill everyone! There will be survivors in there somewhere!" Alex was furious, and the volume of her voice hadn't dropped at all.

Greagoir was completely unperturbed over Alex's temper. (Morrigan later learned it was because he had been on the receiving of her temper dozens of times before)

Alex and Greagoir argued for another ten minutes. In the end, Greagoir agreed to let them enter the tower and see how many of the mages that they could save. His voice and face said everything that he didn't think that they would survive.

Alex barked at them to get supplies and to get ready for a vicious battle. No one argued. Morrigan spotted a better staff lying against the wall, so she immediately ditched her thoroughly abused staff for it. She noted that the Templars were staring at her, like she was some dangerous animal. It was slightly amusing.

Alex did her materializing thing and appeared out of nowhere. (Morrigan vowed that one day she would learn how to do that) Stepping right next to Morrigan, she seemed to act as a shield against the Templars. They didn't retreat, but they stopped reaching for their swords.

Morrigan was insulted that Alex seemed to think that she need protection, but before she could comment on it, Alex glanced at her.

"Don't start anything Morrigan."

"Twas not planning on starting anything." Morrigan said smoothly.

Alex snorted but didn't say anything. She gave a wry smile that set Morrigan's heart into overdrive. It took every ounce of willpower for her to keep her face straight. She obviously wasn't worried about Alex seeing it, but she would never forgive herself if Alistair and or Leliana saw. But even her willpower couldn't stop her from blushing.

"Yes, tis time for us to leave this wretched place. I feel dirty just being here."

Alex barked a laugh. "Be grateful that you didn't have to live here."

The rest of the party announced that they were ready to go. Pushing past the Templars, with Alex leading the way, they advanced into the wrecked but not destroyed Tower.

**A short chapter, I know. Please forgive me. The actual battle for the tower will be much longer. I hope you all enjoy your weekends. **

**Annulment. Not Tranquility. I can't believe i mixed those two up. Thanks for pointing out my mistake. **

**-C.H.**


	9. Chapter 9

Alexandra dodged the blow from the rage demon and jumped back, and with the foul beast's attention fully focused on her, Wynne and Morrigan both launched freezing spells and froze the creature completely. A mighty blow from Sten shattered the creature.

Alex paused to catch her breath. The situation was worse then she thought. Each and every single floor had been completely over run with demons and abominations and who knew what else. They hadn't even passed through the first floor completely. Ever time they got closer to the entrance to the next level, a new flood of demons and corpses would come storming out of the room and impeded their progress. It was frustrating to say the least. Alex snarled under her breath and paused to allow everyone to gather themselves. Alex was pleasantly surprised that Wynne could hold her self, even at such an age. (Though she was quick to point out that she didn't like to be reminded of her age and that she wasn't that old at all.)

Her healing spells were remarkable and easily put Morrigan's to shame. Alex tilted her head in the direction of Morrigan's tired yet somehow annoyed breathing. Morrigan had been opposed to helping the Circle Mages and had almost started a fight until Alex broke in and pointed out that Morrigan could have easily been one of the mages stuck here. She had since then retreated into a thoughtful silence. Alex at that moment would have given anything to be a mind reader.

"Let's go. We have more floors to cover" Alex said.

Everyone nodded and they gathered themselves into a loose formation and the party pushed forward. It was slightly anti-climatic when the only thing that they found was a cleaning Owain. Owain turned his blank face to them and simply nodded and said "Please excuse the mess, it will take me some time to clean it up."

Morrigan was standing near Alex, and she could feel her shudder at Owain's emotionless voice.

"Tis the matter with this man?" Morrigan demanded.

"He's tranquil. It's what this shithole does to mages who don't pass the Harrowing, or in Owain's case are to scared to go through the Harrowing. When you're made Tranquil, you're completely cut off from the Fade. You can't be possessed, but you can't dream either." Alex explained, her voice thick with contempt and disgust.

Wynne and Alistair both stayed silent. Leliana gave a small gasp but she too refrained from saying anything.

"Owain, has anyone come here recently?" Alex asked.

"The mage Niall came through here recently and requested the Litany of Adralla." He intoned.

"You are correct Alexandra." It wasn't hard to notice the cooled tone in Wynne's voice.

Alexandra gave Owain a wide berth as she walked around him. Unconsciously or not, the others followed her. Alexandra almost turned a corner when she heard voices. They were doing their best not to be heard, but for her hearing, they might as well have been shouting. Alexandra held a closed fist. Everyone stopped behind her.

Alex waved her hand forward, and Leliana gently walked past her. Alex had to give Leliana credit, if she hadn't been actually listening for it, she might not have heard Leliana move at all.

"Five Mages standing in a circle in the right corner of the wall" She whispered. Like a phantom, Leliana drifted back behind Alex. Alex tried very hard not to think about Leliana standing right behind her, and even more so wondering if her fingers were as light as her steps.

Alex quickly whispered her plan to the others. There was some mild protest from Alistair but Alex quickly shut it down.

Alex stood up and stepped out from behind the wall. It took the mages who had been standing there a second to realize that there was someone there. Once they did, they grabbed their staves and started charging up spells.

"Wait wait! I only wish to talk." Alex said smoothly.

"Why should we talk to a dog of the circle?!" One mage shouted. His voice was somewhat authoritative, but his voice was also high pitched and wracked with terror. A man about to lose it then.

"I'm no dog for this bloody circle and you would do well to remember that boy." Alex said, bearing down on the last word, hoping to intimidate him before he did anything stupid. Turns out, he was either to scared to think straight, or was an idiot. Either way, the mage launched a basic lightning spell that only missed because Alex turned her head. The smell of scorched ozone filled the air.

Alex brought her hands up to her head. "Okay you win. No need to be casting spells like that! Honestly."

The mage who had cast the spell seemed to hesitate. The shuffle of his clothes and the sound of his shoes hitting one of the books on the floor said that he was shifting his stance to a relaxed one. He hadn't even come close to finishing moving when a push spell erupted from Alex's hands and hit him in the chest. He was launched off of the ground and slammed into the bookshelf, breaking it and falling to the floor, books and scrolls cascading to the ground and landing on him. There was stunned silence as the other mages turned to look at their comrade; who lay on the floor unmoving, a line of blood falling from his mouth.

"Now!" Alex shouted, and before the other Mages could react, the rest of the group poured into the room and attacked the mages. One Mage got off a blood spell that was quickly blocked by Alistair. Taking advantage of Alistair's blocking, Sten stepped around and swung his massive blade with all of his strength. The blade hit the Mage in the collar and slammed downward, only stopping at the opposite hip. (Unfortunately it was lodged in the Mage's body, forcing Sten to spend a minute just getting the sword back)

Leliana dropped one Mage with a well-placed arrow right in his eye. The mage didn't even have time to react. The last two managed to put up a fight, but they were quickly overwhelmed. Beset by a multitude of spells and swords, one went down partially frozen and missing a limp and sporting several holes in his chest. The last Mage threw her staff down violently and literally screamed for mercy.

"Why should we give you mercy? You didn't give any mercy to other mages here." Alex snapped.

"That wasn't us! That was Uldred! We just wanted to be free…away from the Templars and the chantry. This wasn't supposed to happen…this wasn't supposed to…I just wanted to see my parents again." The mage girl broke off crying and Alex stared silently at her.

"Saarebas are dangerous, it would be prudent to deal with her. Permanently." Sten rumbled.

"I see no reason why we should keep her. Let her go, tis obvious she wants nothing more then to be free of this wretched place and I for one can hardly blame her." Morrigan put in.

"Letting a blood mage free?" Wynne started but Alex cut her off.

"Your voice sounds familiar. You're the one I found with that idiot Templar in the basement right?"

The mage burned bright red but she nodded. "She is agreeing" Morrigan whispered into Alex's ear. Alex was thankful for Morrigan telling her that, but still somewhat embarrassed by someone needing to do so.

Alex took a deep breath and let it out. "Morrigan come here. I want you to do exactly as I say, and no questions or complaints until later. Understand?"

"I suppose I do. Tell me, what is your grand plan?"

Alex whispered her plan to Morrigan and she gave her approval. Both women took up positions on either side of the mage. Both raised their hands and grabbed each other's hands and began chanting. The magic began to flow and converge on the Mage girl. Thin silver-white tendrils gathered and focused on in between her breasts. After several minutes, the tendrils formed into one big one and then slammed into her chest, easily knocking her off of her knees and into the bookshelf. Gasping for breath, she looked at both women in shock. "What was that?!" She demanded.

"Old and probably forbidden magic. It's a binding spell on you. If you turn into an abomination, or even converse with malevolent spirits, it will activate and immolate you. Now get out of here before I regret my generosity." Alex responded.

The Mage girl didn't need to be told twice, she launched to her feet and took off, shouting thanks as she sprinted away. "Lets go, we have a tower to save." Alex said as she marched off.

The others followed, each with their own thoughts about what just happened. Alex resolved to talk to each of them one on one when they next had the chance. For the next several hours came a series of furious battles. Frightened blood mages that just wanted to escape but attacked everything, homicidal blood mages who were just as bad as the scared ones, undead beings, demons and a host of other unnatural things almost seemed to continuously pour out from rooms or other hiding spots and attack the group.

Alex froze a blood mage's head in a block of ice, and then hit an abomination with a lightning spell. The Abomination exploded and the force of the blast pushed Alex back until she landed on her back. Alex pushed her self to her feet, and listened out. From the corner, Leliana Wynne and Sten battled a Revenant, while Alistair and Morrigan finished off the last of the undead corpse things.

Alex rushed over to help with the Revenant, but her help was not needed.

"Everyone ready?" Everyone gave tired but agreeable answers. White Fang gave a tired bark and pushed Alex's legs, as if trying to get her to move. To tired to laugh, Alex once again lead the way forward.

Pushing through the doors, the stench of rotting meat assaulted Alex's senses, as did the overwhelmingly powerful demonic essence. Something tall turned towards them.

"You all must be so exhausted. You should rest." Its voice was heavy with sleep, and despite herself, Alex started to feel her knees buckle and sleep forcibly overtaking her.

"If you think that I am going to lie down on this blood soaked floor." Morrigan started but never finished as she collapsed asleep.

"We must resist! It's a demon" Wynne shouted? Yelled? Alex couldn't tell because her eyes were closing and the world was fading away. Everyone gave out small protests but they didn't amount to much, as one by one they all fell and faded away to sleep. Alex collapsed onto the ground, and just before she fell asleep she heard the demonic stupor filled voice once again

"Yes…yes that's it. Just rest."

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**-C.H.**


	10. Chapter 10

Morrigan looked around. The ground around here rose into small little hills, and the sky around her ranged from a dark blue to grey. Walking forward, she saw that some parts of the ground had broken off and seemingly floated by themselves. Combined all together, it was freakishly obvious that she was still stick in the Fade.

Morrigan snarled in frustration. She had been tormented by some irritating demon trying to pose as her mother, and Alex stormed in out of nowhere and drove the demon away. Before anything could be done however, both women were teleported away. Now Morrigan was forced to wander around until she found…something.

A child's laughter got her attention. Over the top of the hell, a small silver haired girl came pelting towards her. She looked to be about six years old. Behind her, a blond elf woman chased after her. Whenever she got close to the child, she would fall back a little, and the child would somehow find the energy to speed up. The chase came right up to Morrigan. The child slammed into an immediate stop and stared at Morrigan in confusion. To Morrigan's shock, she had the deepest ice blue eyes she had ever seen.

Morrigan stared back at the child. "Alexandra where are you?" The woman called out.

"Over here momma!" Alex called out.

Morrigan blinked and did a double take. This was Alex as a child? Her hair was silver yes, but nowhere near the pale-white color of her adulthood. And her eyes, obviously by the fact that she was staring at Morrigan meant that they clearly worked.

"Who are you? You look like I know you" Alex demanded.

Morrigan blinked. Apparently the only thing that stayed the same between the older and younger versions was that she was just as bossy.

"I? I am Morrigan. And you are Alexandra. And you are stuck in the Fade."

Alex stared at her. "No..No I'm not. I'm in Ri..Ri..Rivain. With my mommy. We're safe from the Circle. Dad will be back from the ships. He sails a lot to make us money."

Morrigan was slightly amused from the stubborn defiance from Alex. But she didn't have the patience to sit through and explain everything. Shortcuts were needed.

"Tis nothing but a farce! You are here in the Chantry with the rest of this annoying group and are trying to save these people." Morrigan snapped.

The blond elf came up behind Alex and put her hands on Alex's shoulders. "Who are you and what are you saying to my daughter?" She demanded. Morrigan glanced at the woman. She came up to her shoulders, and was whip thin. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail that reached her shoulder blades. It accentuated the already sharp angles of her face.

"Nothing but the truth. Alexandra, I am Morrigan. Witch of the Wilds if you recall? Tis not a hard thing to remember especially for someone like you."

"Alex don't listen to her!" The mother shrieked.

"Why not?" Alex demanded. She wormed her way out of the woman's grasp. "My mother never yelled at me, no matter what I did. She didn't yell when I set that bratty boy head on fire." Alex's face screwed up in rage as her memory seemed to come back.

"You're not my mother. My mother died a long time ago."

"What are you talking about? I'm your mo"

"No you're not! Now be gone!" Alex roared.

Morrigan watched, as Alex seemed to grow, her hair lengthening and paling, and the light in her eyes dying away. The demon that had been posing as her mother tried to attack, and was immediately incinerated for it's efforts.

"Thank you for that Morrigan. I can't believe I was caught up in that.." Alex didn't even turn her head in Morrigan's direction.

"Yes, tis something to be embarrassed about."

Alex swatted Morrigan on the rear. Morrigan squawked and before she could do anything about it, that familiar mist covered both women and set them to cursing and howling in frustration. But rather then separate them; it brought them face to face with Sloth Demon himself.

They bickered with the demon for a total of thirty seconds. Then Alex slammed an icicle into its face. That ended any and all discussions. (Not that there was much to begin with.) The demon shifted through many forms before ending as an Arcane Horror.

A push spell sent Sten flying backwards, and Alistair barely managed to stop him. Arrows from Leliana were halted in mid air. A flick of the fingers sent them racing back towards her. Lelian dodged, but she was still clipped.

A giant spider slammed into the back of the demon and proceeded to bite and tear at the demon before being launched off of it. Morrigan shifted back to her human self in time to slam into Alex.

"There are easier ways to meet, you know that right?" Alex asked, panting from having the wind knocked out of her.

Morrigan blushed before climbing off of Alex.

Wynne healed everyone and they set forward to fight the demon. Alex rolled underneath the floating demon and launched a blizzard spell. The Smell of scorched ozone filled the air as the demon tried to defend itself with lightening based spells.

Alex stood up and using the sounds of the demon moving about to decide what to do next. A _thunk_ announced that an arrow or something had slammed into the demon. Using the staff, Alex slammed into the back of the demon and channeled a lighting spell into it. The demon roared in pain before back handing her away. By chance or design, Alex crashed into Morrigan.

"You make a great pillow," Alex said before Morrigan could say anything. Morrigan huffed and pushed Alex off of her.

The fight went on for some time, as the demon just refused to die. Sten slammed his sword in the side of the demon, and Alistair rapidly sliced apart the demon on the other side. Arrows peppered his chest and all three magi blasted spell after spell into the demon. The Demon launched one last blizzard before finally dying.

Everyone was panting heavily. "So it looks like we won." Leliana said cheerfully.

Everyone was too tired to respond.

"You did it!"

"Who? Oh Niall it's you." Alex said wearily.

"Yes it's me. You defeated the demon, so you all should be waking up soon."

"Good…wait you all? What about you?" Alex demanded.

"I've been here for far to long. My body will have wasted away." Niall said, any and all joy leaving his voice.

Alex reached forward, and Niall obliged her by stepping forward. He took her hand. "You've done so much for the circle. Take the Litany of Adralla from my corpse. It'll prevent Uldred from taking you over with blood magic."

"I will. And I'll stop Uldred." Alex said.

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

Alex woke with a gasp and scrambled off of the floor.

"Uggg I feel disgusting!" Leliana announced.

"You're not the only one. Come on. We have one last floor to clear." Alex said, getting to her feet. Using her staff, she tapped along the floor until she found Niall's body. Her hands trailed over his body until she found the Litany.

"Thank you Niall, your death will not have been in vain." She whispered.

"Everyone ready? Then lets go!" Alex called out and marched forward, more determined then ever to free the circle and her people from Uldred's grip.

_Long time no update. I know, and I'm sorry for that. Find it in you to forgive me?_

_-C.H._


	11. Chapter 11

They stared at the Templar inside the magical prison. He was blond and had a rugged look to him. And he was currently holding his head and babbling non-stop.

"Who?" Leliana asked.

Alex sighed, and sadness etched over every part of her face. "Cullen. He was sweet on me when I was an apprentice. I had every intention of returning his affections, but then the blight happened."

No one saw the look of jealously that passed on Morrigan's face.

Her hand came up to the prison but just stopped short of touching the prison. Inside, Cullen babbled away, fear having completely over taken his mind. They could barely make out what he was saying. Can't have, torture, never mine, were featured prominently.

It went on for a few seconds before Alex stood up abruptly. "We're not accomplishing anything standing here. Lets go."

They quickly left Cullen behind. Alex was frustrated. She had hated the circle from the moment it had killed her parents and kept her prisoner. But the people…regardless of their stance on the circle they were her comrades, her brothers and sisters. To be butchered like this…

Uldred would pay. He would pay dearly.

Chanting emanated from the behind the closed door at the top of the stairs.

"Everyone ready?" Alex asked.

Everyone said yes and Alex pushed the door open and walked into the room.

At least three mages stood around another mage, chanting. Magic thrummed and flowed all around the four of them. After a few seconds, the magic in the air roared outwards, and the mage who was in the center roared in agony and ecstasy. When the noise stopped and the magic ceased to flow, an abomination stood.

"How nice of you to join us." A man said.

His voice was thick with pride. To say it was confident would be an understatement. He also was pleased.

"You must be Uldred. Can't say I like what you've done with the place." Alex said. With one hand behind her back, she flicked her fingers outwards. The others caught the silent command and began to spread out.

"Are you willing to join us striking a blow for freedom from the chantry?"

"Not if it means following you." Alex said coolly.

Uldred snarled in anger. "Resistance! Everywhere I go, resistance!"

"People tend to resist when you threaten to kill and or torture them. Or least that's what I've found."

"Make all the jokes you want, I have plenty of blood mages and abominations under my command and"

"If you're talking about the people I think you're talking about, we all ready took care of them. Permanently."

Uldred inhaled an angry breath. He exhaled and that prideful tone came back.

"You are but a thorn in my side, and I must remove you before you fester!"

"Did you honestly have to use such a disgusting analogy?"

"No, but it did serve to get my point across. Get them!"

The abominations roared and raced forward. Uldred hung back and seemed content to wait, until one abomination had its face blasted off by a push spell. At that, he seemed to grow and twist, and the magic emanating off of him went from feeling like a trickle to waves.

"Morrigan, please tell me Uldred did not turn into some giant demon." Alex said.

"Only if you don't want me to lie to you."

Uldred roared and stepped forward. He raised his hands, and Alex felt and heard the ice magic gathering at his hand.

"Scatter!" Alex bellowed.

Everyone shot off into different directions, just in time for a blizzard spell roared through the area that they had been standing. Sten slammed his great sword into an abomination, and Alistair attempted to take on Uldred alone. Leliana sent arrow after arrow at Uldred, but it accomplished nothing more then annoying him.

"Do you accept my gift?" He rumbled.

"Use the Litany!" Wynne shouted.

Alex grabbed the Litany placed at her belt and she mumbled a single word of power. The Litany thrummed. Alex had no idea if it worked or not until Uldred gave a growl of clear-cut annoyance.

"All of the abominations are dead!" Wynne shouted.

"Then concentrate everything on Uldred!" Alex responded.

Alistair, who was still swiping at Uldred's feet managed to dodge a blow. Morrigan wasn't so lucky. Back handed and sent flying. By design or chance, she slammed right into Alex.

"There are easier ways to meet woman!" Alex said, regaining her breath and pushing Morrigan off of her.

"Tis was not my intent" Morrigan responded.

"There are also easier ways to cop a feel as well." Alex said with a smirk.

"What are" Morrigan cut herself off when she realized what Alex was talking about. Her hands were on Alex's chest. Morrigan blushed wildly, and Alex smirked when Morrigan made no attempt to move her hands. Alex brought her hands up and covered Morrigan's.

"We'll more about this later. For now.." Alex gently pushed Morrigan off of her. Morrigan then rudely shoved Alex out of the way. Alistair landed with an explosive _oof_ where Alex had just been.

"Thank you Morrigan. Now lets deal with Uldred."

"Right."

They had to use the litany a couple more times before Morrigan hit Uldred in the face with an ice spell, blinding him.

"Nice shot!" Leliana shouted. "He's blinded!"

"Tis only temporary!"

"Then make the most of it!" Alistair yelled and charged at Uldred.

Alistair and Sten took to attacking Uldred's legs.

"Leliana aim for his face!" Alex shouted.

Leliana shifted her aim as the three mages blasted Uldred with every spell they could think of. Uldred roared in pain and angry and let loose with a massive push spell. The group was blasted backwards, with everyone rolling.

Sten was first to his feet and charged forward, only to get launched backwards from a brutal punch. He collided with a marble column and didn't get up.

"Wynne!" Alex said.

"Alex, remember what you did to that ogre?" Alistair asked.

"Yes but I need a bit of a jump to reach the top of a pride demon."

Alistair tapped his shield.

Alex smiled.

"Morrigan, Leliana, distract." Alex directed.

Alistair sprinted forward and at the last second, he turned around. Alex sprinted and jumped on Alistair's shield just as he pushed forward. Alex felt the rush of air billowing past her and she landed square on Uldred's back. Uldred roared and Alex scrambled to keep a good grip.

Just as Uldred managed to reach back to get her, Alistair sank his blade into Uldred's foot. Sten regained consciousness thanks to Wynne's ministrations and came back with a roaring vengeance. He viciously attacked any part of Uldred that he could reach. Leliana steadied her bow, took care full aim, and sent an arrow right into the demon's eye. He launched back, roaring with agony, and the rest of the group went fully on the offensive, doing everything in their power to make sure he couldn't launch any more spells.

Alex at last managed to climb to the top of the demon, and pressed the switch to turn the staff into a bladed weapon. She brought it up over her head, and slammed the blades into the back of Uldred's neck. She channeled every ounce of magical power she could, and funneled it through the staff directly into the foul creature.

Uldred roared and twisted and raved as the electricity raced through his body. Alex held on for dear life as she tried to keep her grip, but she was eventually thrown. Before she could hit the ground, Morrigan caught her.

"Can't let go of me huh?" Alex said breathlessly.

"Tis merely repaying the favor." Morrigan snapped.

"Sure it is. You could put me down if you'd like. I know I'm not light."

Morrigan gently eased Alex to the ground.

"So is there anything else we need to deal with? Another abomination? Murderous Templars? Homicidal mothers?" Alex demanded.

Uldred's corpse slammed into the ground, causing everything to shake.

"I don't think so." Irving said with a chuckle.


	12. Chapter 12

The party moved quietly from Redcliffe, their destination being Honnleath. As usual Alex sat behind Morrigan.

"You are more quiet then usual." Morrigan stated.

"I am aren't I?" Alex replied. "If you don't want to talk about what's bothering you."

"I nearly died fighting that desire demon. Or became tranquil. Whatever. The point is...that damn bitch nearly got me."

"What did she offer you?"

Alex turned her unseeing eyes on Morrigan, and despite everything Morrigan had seen and been through they still unsettled her.

"Eyes. She offered me sight. In exchange for Connor. I turned it down but I was...rattled. She took advantage of that and wounded me. I entered the fade confident as usual...and for that I nearly was defeated. I could have had my sight back." Alex gave a wane smile. "Could have even seen that lovely face of yours."

Morrigan was thankful that Alex was blind because she was blushing like no other. How she managed to do that with just a sentence was beyond her. Morrigan coughed lightly and said "Tis best you didn't take the demon's deal, for surely something would have gone wrong and she would have used the deal against in some way."

Alex nodded. "Yes you're probably right. The sun doesn't feel as hot as it normally does. Is it setting?"

"Yes it i-" Morrigan's response was cut off by a woman running towards them shouting for help.

"We should help her!" Leliana yelled insistently. "All right fine." Alex said. "dismount and follow the woman!"

"This better not be a trap." Alex muttered. Morrigan could only offer her unspoken agreement. They followed the woman who stopped in front of a fallen tree. Before anyone could say or do anything, a tanned elvish man stood on top of a rock and yelled "Kill the warden!"

The woman who had lured them there turned out to be a mage and hit Alex in the chest with a push spell; knocking her off of her feet.

All hell broke loose. Morrigan attempted to freeze the mage woman, but she barely blocked the spell. Unfortunately for her, this left her open to White Fang's unforgiving jaws. She barely had time to scream before Fang tore her throat out. Morrigan turned to defend herself from another attacker.

[#]

Alex rolled on the ground, coughing. _So that's what it's like to get hit with a push spell. _ Thudding footsteps brought her back to reality and she grabbed her staff and swiped it sideways. Her attacker crashed into the ground. Focusing as much as she could, Alex extended her hand and unleashed a fountain of lightning based-pain into the man. He shrieked and convulsed and then stopped moving.

Scrambling to her feet, Alex yelled in pain when an arrow grazed her arm. Barking orders, she quickly had her group dived into two and hunt down the archers. A light tap behind her had Alex spinning around and unleashing the three blades. The leader of the ambushers stood in front of her. Off to the sides, Alex's friends fought with the ambushers. Judging from the sounds, the ambushers were coming off second best.

The leader jumped forward and Alex barely brought her stave up in time. Two blades clashed off of the stave, making Alex's ears ring. A breath of pure ice forced her attacker to back up and Alex used the newly gained space to go on the offensive. Stave and blades arced towards each other and crashed together repeatedly. Alex tried to hit with any spell, but they would miss and often leave herself open to the assassin's clever counter attacks.

The fight wasn't one sided though. The assassin couldn't get close enough for a killing blow without leaving himself dangerously open. That changed when Alex foolishly leapt forward and grazed his cheek. Alex's smirk was lost when the assassin stepped forward. The whistling of the air announced that a blade was coming towards her at what should have been an impossible speed. Alex tried to step back, but she wasn't fast enough. The blade grazed her stomach, opening up a wound.

With a shout of fury Alex spun around and cracked the would be assassin on the head. He fell back and Alex followed up her attack with a small fireball. It blasted the Assassin back until he hit the fallen tree and hit his head on the tree with a sickening crack.

Alex fell to the ground. She put a hand over her stomach, blood flowing through her fingers. "I really should have focused on something else other then primal magic..." Alex muttered, wincing in pain.

Wynne stepped forward and began to healing her. Alex had been a little weary of letting her come with, but she was turning out to be pretty useful. Wynne moved off to heal the others, but their wounds were light; considering the size of the ambush.

The assassin groaned and slowly started to regain consciousness. Alex stepped forward and pointed the blades at his throat.

"Hmm so I am still alive?" he said, completely unperturbed over the fact that extremely sharp blades were pointed at his throat.

"That could change at a moments notice." Alex snapped. "Who hired you?"

"A rather taciturn fellow back in Denerim. Loghain I think his name was."

"You were awfully quick to give up that information." Alex said, raising an eyebrow.

"Why not? I wasn't paid for my silence...Hmm you and your friends are very powerful. If you would allow me, I would gladly work for you."

"Really?" Alex said skeptically. "Yes, I swear that I will help you in whatever way I can."

"What's in it for you?"

"Besides living? Freedom from the Crows."

Alex thought for a couple seconds. They really could use another blade in this insane quest, and he was a talented fighter. (Alex's stomach twinged at that thought.)

"Fine. But if you try anything.." Alex extended her hand. Alistair and Morrigan protested, but Alex silenced them both. _I'll have to talk to both of them later tonight. Especially Morrigan._ She thought.

"I am Zavran Aranai." Zevran said, grabbing Alex's hand and getting up.

"Alexandra. Everyone scavange for supplies, Alistair and Leliana move up ahead and find us a place to camp. Thanks to Mr. Zevran here, we've run out of time to get to Honnleath."

The party began to disperse, and Alex felt Fang shove his head underneath her hand. Absently scratching his head, Alex said "I have a bad feeling about this mission." Fang and Alex both turned in the general direction of Orzammar, and the feeling of bad things to come, only increased.

_Hope you all enjoyed. I'm not very good at keeping this updated am I? _

_-C.H._


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